What you need to know about coronavirus testing in the U.S.
U.S. government officials say a million promised tests for diagnosing coronavirus infections will soon be in the mail. But that still leaves many state and local laboratories without the ability to test for the virus, crucial for curbing its spread around the country. Some states have developed their own tests. Clinical testing companies are now joining the ranks. LabCorp announced March 5 that physicians or other authorized health care providers could already order its test. Quest Diagnostics announced the same day that the company will also offer commercial tests as soon as March 9, pending U.S. Food and Drug Administration reviews. Participation of those two commercial laboratories could greatly expand testing capacity in the United States. But for now, “we still find ourselves as a country with pretty limited capacity to test,” says Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston. Here’s what you need to know about coronavirus testing in the country. What’s...